Forgive Me Father, For I have Sinned
by Mashiara91
Summary: Kurofai AngelxDemon fic."There are two possible outcomes, and this I have seen. Either you fall or he rises. This middle ground of yours will not last." Warnings: Slightly philosophical and dialog-based prose. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Clamp made Kurofai...and I have nothing witty to add to that. **

**Okay, while this story was initially intended as a gift to my best friend Msrukia, however, given that I have been reading way too much Anne Rice and Dante recently, it's turned a lot more...not necessarily dark just very philosophically vague . Given this supernatural philosophical leaning, this story may at times be confusing-ish. This is intentional :P**

**And now, on with the tale, Enjoy!**

o0o

o0o

"Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been three nights since my last confession."

"What is your sin my child?"

"I have killed the man I love."

o0o

The distant chime of church bells calls out in the empty night. The wind blows cold and a strand of white blond hair flies loose from a thin red string. Thick lashes blink slowly, yellow slit eyes disappear, wings extend, black and monstrous. A demon smiles.

In the same instant, a white-clad angel looks down and sighs, his white-feathered wings folded behind him cushioning his back against the rugged stone pillar of the highest arch in the nearby cathedral. The bell tolls in his ears, and he can feel the demon's smile approaching.

"A double death tonight, we're going to be busy till daybreak. Ne, Kuro-fluff?"

The angel does not look behind him, does not acknowledge the other man's presence, his confidence evident in that he keeps his back turned to his enemy.

"It's a simple case, it's shouldn't take long. But knowing you, you'll probably drag out every detail," says the angel, his brow furrowing as a wicked demonic laugh rings out in the air. Every laugh a burst of dark energy that reverberates towards him in putrid waves that beat against his skull. The sound high pitched and unnatural, dissonant with the still-tolling bells.

The bells stop, and so does the accompanying laughter.

"You're as stubborn as ever. It's two murderers, they're obviously mine!" The demon's voice is calm and teasing. The angel can't help but turn to the voice. The voice of a demon that, to him, sounds more like an angel's any day. As usual, he is struck by the paradox of such a divinely crafted face eternally shadowed by the hideous black-scaled wings of a devil. With blond hair more fit for Michelangelo's cherubs and pure skin as white as daylight or the shine of the moon.

The angel sighs. "This is going to take some time."

Without saying anything more, he suddenly appears at the corner of the street down bellow and makes his way to an adjacent café. He knows full well that the demon could not have stayed near the church for long.

"Are you sure we should go?" asks the demon. "The man's nearly done with his confessions."

"And he'll pass by here on his way out. He'll be praying in the church for a long time."

"Little help that'll do."

The angel does not bother launch into a lecture on the virtues of prayer, as it would have been more than vain in present company. Not to mention tedious. He simply opens the wooden door of the café and waits for his partner to enter.

"Aww! You're too kind Kuro-pyon, always taking me on these fancy dates," says the blond as he prances inside. Moments later, one of the mortal staff comes to close the door looking quizzical. Naturally she cannot know the reason for the door's behavior and that right then they had an angel and demon staying under their roof.

The angel ignores the other man's commentary on the romantic atmosphere and cozy feel of the place; he just sits down in his usual spot in the corner, listening to everyone and everything around him. The demon takes a seat opposite him, and there is a silence as they appreciate the many minds around them.

"So you really are going to be stubborn about this," says the demon finally, starring at the angel with unabashed interest.

"Naturally, it's my job."

"You really think you can cheat me out of a couple of murderers?"

"Cheat you, why I wouldn't dream of it!" says the angel, displaying a rare smile that tugges at the edge of his lips.

"Fine then, you plan on _debating_ all night long over a these two killers?" The demon takes comfort in the other man's joking, he smiles widely in return.

"Men are never just one thing."

"But a thing as strong as murder is enough to change any man."

"The same is true for changing him back."

"Well, it's too late for the first one, he's dead and gone."

"Obviously! Or I wouldn't have to sit here with you," the angel adds a 'hmph' for good measure.

"Oh come now Kuro-cutie, didn't you miss me?" The demon asks playfully, his tone bordering seductive. But something about the way he avoids the angel's gaze gives the question a level of seriousness and fear.

The angel remains quite, however. He could not lie, nor could he ever say the truth. Knowingly, the demon just smiles in response. For once not pushing the topic any further, for which the angel was glad.

The angel quickly brings back the main topic of conversation.

"We should focus now on the first death seeing as the second death has yet to come."

"The second _death_? You mean the suicide."

"That's debatable."

"Funny, I thought there was only one way to interpret a man wrapping his own noose around his neck."

"Don't you think it's rude to bargain over a man's soul before he's even died?"

"You're lecturing _me_ about being rude?"

"I haven't been rude in ages," the angel is a little too quick to defend himself, and the demon sighs sadly.

"I know. I miss it."

"Well I had to change, you know that. How else did you expect to me to get promoted," explains the angel.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to you all calm and peaceful." The demon could not hide the sadness in his voice nor could he stop the regret from crawling back into his head. It was in his nature.

"What part of the old me did you like, jeez I almost cut your head off once!" Kurogane grimaces, thinking back on how reckless he'd been putting Fai in danger like that. He'd been more wrath-prone than a demon!

"You wouldn't have."

"Maybe," Kurogane smiles, but this time the demon does not notice. Kurogane hates the look in those eyes. He hates those eyes to begin with, and he tries to remember when exactly they'd begun to change. It must have been after their pact. It was an unpleasant change, to say the least, so much of this was.

"You've gotten quieter, too, Fai. I worry about you."

Fai relishes in the sound of his name passing through those lips, and for a moment a true smile lights up his face. For that one moment, everything seems okay.

Kurogane feels the pain of regret and sorrow in his heart worse now than ever. While advancing in his job meant getting better, for Fai it meant getting worse. But they'd made a pact, and Kurogane was starting to think that even if he could handle his part, watching Fai like this….

"It's worth it."

The demon and angel smile.

A comfortable silence hangs in the air.

"Let's just finish this as soon as possible. We both have more work to do."

"I don't know about you, Kuro-sweets, but Sloth's actually part of our creed, know what I mean? I'm supposed to be late. Besides, no other job on the schedule allows me to enjoy your company."

"Hmpf, how you guys still manage to beat us will continue to amaze me!"

"Numbers, my dear angel, numbers. We just have the advantage in numbers."

The silence now is deeper as their minds turn thinking of all the insanity around them. They are reminded that there really is a bigger picture.

"Kuro-sama," Kurogane almost snorts at the supposed honorific, but he really can't be so callous anymore. "Kuro-sama, that man was one of the lowest of the low, a real killer. He had no conception of love or any divine form. He killed nearly a hundred people just for money, one target he killed in front of a three year old girl that he then choked to death with his bare hands. How can you—how can _you_ defend someone like that."

"As I said, people change."

"What?"

"The murderer repented and allowed himself to be killed."

"Repented? I hope you're not serious. One moment of doubt with a gun pointed at your chest does not leave you in the right mind to repent." Fai still wore that sticky smile on his face all the time, but Kurogane couldn't help but notice how it got more wicked with every passing year.

"The man's used to guns; he's not the type to let fear of death get to his head," says the angel.

"That's my point, the man feared nothing. Not death, not you, not God. He was cold and ruthless, and that did not change with his death."

"It changed the moment he sought death."

"He did not seek death!" replied the demon automatically. "He got into that fight precisely because he sought to inflict death and suffering and pain!"

"He _did_ seek death by the hands of the man he loved." The angel was quick to notice how the demon practically jumped at the last word.

"Loved?" Fai is beyond incredulous. "You mean he loved someone? The man who killed him, the one in the confessional right now? You've got to be kidding me!"

"That is the problem with you demons, you will never understand love."

The angel stops. The words had come out of his mouth before he could help himself, the bitterness getting the better of him.

"Don't be so arrogant, Seraph. Love is the one thing we know. What is envy but the love of another's possessions? What it pride but the love of oneself? What is love of flesh or power?" the demon glares. "What is torment, but the absence of love, Kurogane?"

In all their years, Kurogane had never seen Fai get remotely angry; this is a change that he had not been prepared for. "Do not insult your station, Kurogane, do not take lightly those on the other side. It is precisely because we know love that we are who we are."

"Then you know of the love that would outweigh a man's own life. What is it when one throws his life away for the sake of another?"

"You cannot be suggesting that this man was capable of self sacrifice?"

"Think about it. He was better equipped, better trained, had far more experience in the arena. Why let the other win? Why else let the man kill him?"

"And how would his death serve the man he loved? If he so loved him, wouldn't he desire to be with him?"

"You do not understand."

There was a heart-beat, and in that second Kurogane knows just how much this is costing them, how much things have changed.

"Excuse me?" the demon doesn't quite know why his humanoid heart had stopped at those four words.

"He was not thinking about his own desires, which is what makes this an act of love. He was thinking of what was best for the other man," explains the angel.

"It was best to make a murderer out of his lover then, how wonderful!"

"Oh, that wasn't murder."

"You're joking! Are you reinterpreting scripture all over again, or has all that time up in the clouds really gotten to you?" At least this time Fai's smiling with that old teasing glint, and Kurogane doesn't mind the insult too much.

"He was faced against a known killer, he was defending himself."

"A known killer, come now, wasn't he an innocent lover-boy not a minute ago?" the demon retorts.

"Just because the killer was in love with him, doesn't mean he acted any differently towards him."

There is a pause, and the demon begins to laugh softly, a sound more like the ones of old, a sound filled with quite amusement rather than demonic mania.

"Kuro-cutie, didn't anyone ever tell you that love was in actions not words?"

"You did. Nearly a dozen times this year alone."

"_And_ you should listen to those smarter than you."

"And you've definitely said that more than a dozen times now."

"I know, but you still never listen."

The share a silent moment, each of them smiling, the humans around them unaware of the quite exchange between preternatural beings an arm's length away.

"Point being, he didn't know the man loved him, or else he wouldn't have sought to kill him."

"So it was wrath at being rejected or else it was greed for what he thought he could never have. It's a mortal sin either way, Kuro-tan." Kurogane smiles at the return of the nicknames. Hearing his name so often had made his feathers itch.

"He was a former priest, even if he tried, that man could never be angry," the angel thinks on the young man still praying at the altar. It was definitely true.

"So what's the reason this time? Wait, let me guess…it was love again! He was acting out of love!" the demon claps his hands together in mock-glee, the smile on his face distorting its beauty.

"He was," replies the angel, his brow furrowing.

"And it wasn't selfish love?"

"No."

"He was serving mankind and God?"

"Yes."

"A former priest, you said?"

"Yes."

"Why'd he give up?"

"He fell in love with a killer."

"I see." The demon's voice loses its strength and what comes out is barely a whisper. "I wish you'd give up."

"I wish you would."

Neither of them speaks, there are no words for this, this fiendish pact they have between them. Kurogane knows that such a thing cannot last, which makes it all the worse.

"_Kurogane, you do realize that as long as you love this man, you will never advance in the ranks?"_

"_I don't understand, Hime. Love is held in high esteem here."_

"_Selfless love, Kurogane, selfless love. And I know that whatever love you have between you, whatever forms it takes, it is not selfless."_

"_Yes it is. I want him to be happy. I want him to be saved."_

"_But that is not his wish, and so long as that is the case, then you are simply acting on your own whims."_

"_I– I don't need to advance that far. Once I am an archangel everything will be solved."_

"_You speak of the Reward, the one day a year every archangel and archdemon gets on earth, as free humans?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Do you realize what you are asking of him? How hard it will be for you to love him once he is in that state? He will not be the man you fell in love with."_

"_Nor will I. And I know that he will not falter."_

"_He may turn selfish and cruel; bring harm to others and himself."_

"_I will still love him."_

"_This path will drive you insane, Kurogane. You are strong, and you may last. But his is a path based on weakness."_

"_I believe in him." _

"_Once you fulfill your plan and reach earth, you will want more. He will instinctively desire it, it is in his nature. And you will want to fulfill those desires. At that point, there are two possible outcomes, and this I have seen. Either you fall or he rises. This middle ground of yours will not last." _

The angel blinks a few times and shakes his head of the conversation he'd had a long time ago with the oracle Tomoyo. His gaze automatically seeks the eyes of the man opposite him. The yellow looks as impenetrable as ever.

"The young man's coming, we should go." The demon's voice is calm and quite. The angel thinks he can hear the determination behind it. The glint in the yellow eyes before him tells him that he's right.

He does not know what this means or how this will end. He doesn't even know the outcome of this night. But as he rises from his seat, he knows that, right now, he has no other choice.

o0o

o0o

**So, any guesses on who they're debating about? Hint hint: it's a tragic clamp couple (aren't they all!).**

******On another note: Merry Christmas! This isn't exactly a Christmas story, but it's religious-ish...so idk. Also, it was initially intended as a oneshot, but I think I like it too much. If anyone is reading my other stuff, I'm really sorry about not getting a Through Barred Eyes chapter out...I just didn't like what I wrote. A warning from now, my updating schedule is very erratic. Sorry!**  


**Please everyone, I'm still not sure I want to continue with this story, so reviews are more that loved! Thank you and Merry Christmas again!**


	2. Chapter 2

**ooo**

The boy heard the click of the door, but the comfort of home did not come with the sound. Instead all he heard was the terrible silence of an empty apartment. It felt nothing like home.

He dragged his feet though the dark rooms not even bothering to turn on the lights.

"Look at him, can't you feel his despair," said the blond demon as he peered at the young man through a foggy glass windowpane.

"His despair is the reason he won't go through with it," said the angel simply.

The demon sighed. "Despair's what makes you want to end it. Not the other way around."

"Despair lets you know that that you're still human. That you're alive."

"You angels!" said the demon exasperated. "Always equating suffering and life, like it's the best thing in the world. Well, sorry, it's not. It's the worst."

"Precisely. It's because we know how bad suffering, loss and despair are that we know how wonderful love is." He looked away. "How wonderful life is."

"You think he's thinking about how wonderful life is right now? You think he cares? The man he loved just died. Was killed! By him! What he holds most dear is no longer a part of this life."

This time, the angel sighed. "That man wouldn't have wanted him to die."

"But he doesn't know that. As far as he's concerned, that man wanted him dead."

"I intend to correct that impression."

"So that's your angle," retorted the demon, his tone unusually mocking.

"It's not an angle. It's the truth."

"Yeah, sure it is."

"You know I can't lie," reminded the angel.

"Yeah, I know that you believe it."

"This man will not die tonight. Not if I have anything to say about it," affirmed the angel with the same tone he used to make solid promises. The demon knew that tone well.

"Well, you'd better do something soon, Kuro-choo, he's already at the temple-room."

The angel was momentarily confused, a state he did not like to be in. Like a beacon, he found the young man's spirit and moments later he was standing over the kid's shoulder. The former priest was muttering under his breath, "A sacrificial prayer?"

"Exactly," answered the demon.

"But that makes him ours; he's selflessly giving up his life to save another's soul."

"He's being selfish, and soul-switching is a forbidden art. He's ours."

The boy was planning on taking the other man's place in hell, it did demand a level of self-sacrifice, but the demon was right. The boy was doing it to ease his own guilt. And it was indeed a forbidden technique. There were some situations that could forgive the use of such measures. This was not one of them. The kid was going to end up in hell…"No!"

"Stubborn to the end, ne, Kuro-sama?"

"Don't you go calling me stubborn!"

The angel's breathing was heavy; the weight of the stranger's pain weighing down on him. He clenched his fist and bit down hard, his body trembling. Through the knots in his chest he still felt cold fingers at his cheek. A familiar breath whispered in his ear.

"Ooooh! Anger, I'm loving this side of you," teased the demon as he bit down on the taller man's earlobe, then licked softly at his upper neck. The angel shuddered, his anger turning into a burning frustration at feelings he could not fight. The demon's lips teased, leaving fire in their wake as they lingered just left of the angel's lips.

"Don't tempt me, Fai."

"It's my job to tempt you. You know how much I want you," said the demon, his fingers teasing at the other man's collar, his thumbs caressing tenderly.

"If you seduce me, you'll destroy everything we've worked for."

"On the contrary, I'll get exactly what I want. You."

"Not like this," insisted the angel.

"Why not?"

"Don't."

"Please." The demon's faint whisper made the angel want to weep. He grabbed the smaller man's shoulders firmly, his eyes closing in frustration and something more… something he did not want to admit was there. He was lost, and it wasn't the first time. That damn demon! Through his clouded mind a faint voice came to him. The prayers of a former priest that they'd all but forgotten existed.

"_I love you Seishirou-san, please forgive me."_

The demon heard it too, and his whole frame went rigid. The boy wasn't going to die…? He wasn't going to give up his life, he had not completed the sacrifice, but why?

"_I love you Seishirou-san, I'm so sorry."_

The words rung out in the air with a solemnity that pierced both the men's hearts and reverberated through their minds, much like the sound of church bells to a sinner's ears.

"Fine," murmured the demon. "I'll stop, 'sides I don't have to seduce an angel for another 6 months now." he said, referring to the list of prerequisites required to become and archdemon. "And don't worry, I won't pick you."

"What—?" cried the angel, more shocked then angry. What was that demon playing at?

"Don't get jealous. It's a sin! It'll ruin your precious plan." The demon did not hide his bitterness.

"Fai, I—"

"Don't. Just don't."

The demon marched over to where the boy lay kneeling and praying. He was not going to sacrifice himself anymore, but he was still praying for the man. It wasn't an immediate threat…but a threat nonetheless.

"You cheat the devil, child. That man cannot go to heaven," whispered the demon.

"Yes, he can. He was a good man," affirmed the angel on the other side.

"A good man who killed nearly a hundred people and almost killed you."

"He loved you."

"No, he didn't. Why would he love you? He had no heart to love you with."

"He did have a heart and he loved you with all of it," said the angel sincerely.

"Oh, right. He did have a heart, and you stabbed it dead!"

"He wanted you to kill him. He wanted it to end."

"And he left you alone; see how much he cared for you!" cried the demon.

"He gave his life to save you."

"To save you from himself, from his vile and evil self. And you…just as evil as he."

"No!" shouted the angel with righteous anger. "You did what you thought was right, he was a killer that you sought to bring to justice. In your own way, you did just that. You've saved his soul already."

"His soul deserves to be in hell. You know this. So does yours."

"You are stronger than this. Your love is stronger than this."

"What love?" mocked the demon. "He hated you! He nearly killed you!"

"But he didn't, did he? The Sakurazukamori didn't kill you. You know his skill was better than yours, he let you win."

"And now you're a killer! You killed the man you love! You deserve to die and root in hell for all of eternity! How could you? The man you loved? Dead by your hands!"

The demon's voice shook with uncontrollable anger and frustration, and an emotion the angel could not pin down. He gazed at the demon now and instantly knew that this had nothing to do with the young man. The demon was practically shaking.

"You killed him. You killed him!" repeated the demon over and over again, his fingers shaking as thick black nails extended outward.

"YOU KILLED HIM!"

"Fai..?" Kurogane gripped the other man's shoulders, but it did nothing. Fai's gaze was elsewhere, his head snapping from side to side, eyes seeing something that was not there.

"Dead. Dead dead dead. He's dead."

"Fai? Snap out of it." But the demon continued to squirm in his grasp, murmuring of a murder committed long ago.

"FAI!"

The demon's nails dug into the taller man's preternatural flesh, and his eyes latched onto the angel's. For the first time, Kurogane could feel the full extent of Fai's torment. He saw in those eyes the fires of hell and the screams of a thousand sorrows.

"I won't do that to you, will I?" Fai's voice was soft but so fearful; it sounded more like a child's. "I won't kill you by my own hands, will I?"

"Of course not," Kurogane's voice rang with unwavering conviction.

"But murder's want we do! I won't be able to avoid it." Fai buried his face against the taller man's shoulder, and Kurogane could feel a wetness accumulating there. "I have to kill an archangel, what if it's you?"

"I know you won't. I believe in you."

"Even if I say I won't. How will you believe me? I'm supposed to lie! A liar, a killer, it'll never end!" Fai moaned miserably. It was a sound the angel could not bear. And would never. His very being, the entirety of who he was could never see Fai suffer so, especially not because of him.

"Fai. Fai, look at me. Look at me. If you ever get to that point, ever, I swear I will give in. I won't let you go through with it, I promise. And my word, you can trust."

Fai's shaking stopped and his eyes round as he starred up at the angel. "Kurogane?"

"Don't call me that."

The demon smiled. "I always knew you liked my nicknames."

In response, the angel gave only a faint, yet familiar, "Hmph!"

"You do realize, you just promised a demon your soul?" Fai could not help but ask and be sure. He hated that his weakness had forced Kurogane to such measures, but perhaps that would make him stronger in his resolve.

"You've had it for a long time now," replied the angel. The demon smiled.

"I don't deserve you."

"But I'm exactly what you need."

No arguments there, thought the demon. "Why do you put up with me?"

"Because I love you."

"Why?"

"Because you're an idiot," replied the angel with a smirk.

The demon placed both his palms against Kurogane's cheeks and held the other's face tenderly. "I love you too. If you don't ever believe anything else, believe that."

"I do."

The angel placed one palm against Fai's hand, and the other found its way to the nape of his neck.

"Just one?" asked the demon, and this time there was no lust in his voice, only love and adoration. "You're already in deep for promising your soul to me, and I'm too happy for their liking right now. We're both going to be punished anyway….So, just one?"

This time the angel accepted, and he tilted his head down to kiss his demon's lips.

**ooo**

Subaru Sumeragi had assumed up until a few moments ago that the voices he'd been hearing were constructs of his own mind and that he'd basically conjured up his own demons, so to speak. But now, as he was confronted with the sight of two affectionate (to say the least) celestial beings in the middle of his living room…he had to say, they seemed pretty real. Probably had something to do with all of his spiritual powers and psychic abilities. Of course, he could also tell that one, the fairer one, was obviously a demon while the taller of the two was definitely an angel.

He sighed, knowing how difficult their path would be.

**ooo**

**A/N: And that's the end of part one, folks! I don't really know what I'm going to do next, so I'll put it to a vote, it's either another trial (to do with the prerequisites hinted at here) or a bit of backstory on how they met…..VOTE! What d'you guys feel like reading….and while you're at it, how was this? REVIEW!**

**And now I'm off to write my final paper, due tomorrow….its 10 pages and I haven't started :S -did I mention that in the past two days I reread TB and atleast 5 volumes of X and TRC…. I really don't know why I do this to myself, but it really isn't my fault that Clamp is so much more interesting than my work! **

**Also: REVIEW AND VOTE! **


	3. Chapter 3

Long ago, there was a meeting between immortals to decide the fate of two young children. It was a somber occasion. For the children were dead.

"So where does this little beauty go?" asks a black-winged female.

"His heart is troubled with fear and guilt. He is quite sad," says an old man dressed in white.

"We cannot accept guilt in our ranks," says a gold-crowned specter. "Whatever guilt he feels he must suffer through himself."

"His guilt is not deserved!" retorts a young maiden.

"Still," replies the specter, "Until he frees himself, our hands are tied."

"Oh, but that's so mean!" mocks a red-eyed ghost.

"Then into the pits of hell he shall go," decrees the scribe, inking in a single name in black: Fai.

"And what of this other? He is so angry. Surely he is ours!" says a black-winged female.

"No, anger is not a sin. His heart is pure," says the old man.

"Then up into heaven he shall soar," decrees the scribe, inking in a single name in gold: Kurogane.

But none of the immortals in attendance could ever have foreseen what happened next… except maybe a child who merely stood and said nothing, only waited.

It is said that those who die at the same time and are judged together, develop an inexplicable bond. Perhaps because their souls were so raw and fresh, they clung to each other desperately.

As many children often did, the two would visit the fabled Bridge and marvel at what was on the other side. Through their kindred bond they found a way to meet and talk and play, as mortal children would.

Even as they grew into a demon and an angel, still they met and talked and fell in love.

It was the fiercest of loves imaginable. Each proving time and again how far they would go for the other. So the council of immortals met again.

"They seek the promised day," says the old man.

"How foolish! It's only a day!" mocks the red-eyed ghost.

"We cannot have them in our ranks if all they care about is each other!" asserts the fiery warrior.

"I'd hate to agree, but they do not care about their duties," says the maiden shyly.

"Preposterous, if that were true it would have been impossible for them to advance!" shouts the gold-crowned specter.

"It is not impossible. Such is the strength of their Love," says the black-winged female.

"What should we do?"

"How do we proceed?"

"What is the just course of action?"

"Imprison them!"

"Deny them!"

"Erase them!"

There was confusion in the court the likes of which had never been witnessed since the dawn of the First Divide.

The child stood calmly and all were quieted by the child's mere presence. "They shall have their day on earth and a thousand days hereafter. They will walk the earth as mortals and fulfill their love as they wish."

"But what of their souls? One is still riddled with guilt and the other is lost in silent fury," wonders the old man.

"They shall have their mortal time to resolve their differences, alone or together. A thousand times they will live and a thousand times they will die, until they are at peace."

The black-winged female grins suggestively, "I do not think it will take that long!"

They all laugh softly with genuine mirth. How long it had been since they'd all experienced something so new and curious!

The child smiles and continues. "Once they are free they shall join us here forever, as stars entwined together."

And so was the story of the wondrous love between an angel and a demon. Love proving time and again the unity of existence.

Thus, the lives of Kurogane and Fai began.

**o0o**

**A/N: I chose to go with something completely different with this ending. I hope you enjoyed it :) Please tell me what you think!**

**Thanks for reading! **


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